1995 N.H.L PLAYOFFS

By ALEX YANNIS

Published: June 11, 1995

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., June 10—
As fast as one can say Stanley Cup, the momentum in the Eastern Conference finals has shifted from the top to the bottom of the New Jersey Turnpike. The Devils suddenly have all sorts of questions to answer, starting with the goaltending of Martin Brodeur.

Everyone around the Devils thought Brodeur's poor performance in a Game 3 loss to the Flyers was a onetime thing, but he was worse in this afternoon's 4-2 loss that evened the four-of-seven-game series at two games apiece. He gave up 4 goals on 17 shots and was pulled with 6 minutes 45 seconds left in the game. A large number of the fans in the sellout crowd of 19,040 headed for the Byrne Meadowlands Arena exits at the same time, while the 10 percent or so who appeared to be Flyers fans cheered.

"We feel the same way they did after the first two games," Brodeur said about the prospect of going into Sunday's Game 5 at the Spectrum after losing both games at the Meadowlands. "The good side to this is that the series is now the best of three."

Two lineup changes by Devils Coach Jacques Lemaire may not have helped Brodeur's cause. An injury forced Bruce Driver to miss the game and Stephane Richer was apparently benched after going without a goal for seven games, although Lemaire said Richer had "a sore hand."

Lemaire used Kevin Dean in place of Driver on defense and Brian Rolston in place of Richer on the attack. Lemaire said he was pleased with the performances of both, but gave no indication whether they would play again on Sunday.

A switch in tactics by the Flyers is also giving the Devils difficulties. Philadelphia has stopped trying to crash through the New Jersey neutral zone trap and instead has held its defensemen back and instructed them to wait for an opening before starting a rush.

"If their front forechecker is going to wait at our blue line, and wait at the neutral zone for the trap, I'll just sit back and wait," Flyers Coach Terry Murray said.

"We were just giving them too many chances through the neutral zone and turning the puck over," Philadelphia's Eric Lindros said. "They were capitalizing with their transition game and they have a great transition game."

Devils Captain Scott Stevens admitted that the change in strategy has worked, but said New Jersey's less aggressive defensive play has contributed to the Flyers' success. "They've faced less traffic in these two games than they did in the first two," he said.

Unlike the first two games, the Devils frequently had the wrong players on the ice for the Flyers' Legion of Doom line of Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.

The Flyers took advantage of one such matchup for their second goal, which came with 2:10 left in the second period. With the Devils' fourth line of Mike Peluso, Bobby Holik and Randy McKay on the ice, Lindros carried the puck into the Devils' zone and passed it to Renberg skating alongside to his right. Renberg used Stevens as a screen and fired a shot that nipped off Stevens and beat Brodeur over the glove for his fifth goal in the playoffs.

"I spent 30 minutes talking about that play, how to pick up the trailer, and everybody went to the guy with the puck," Lemaire said.

That goal was the game-winner, but the one that hurt the most was Rod Brind'Amour's short-handed goal, 4:43 into the third, that extended the lead to 3-1. It came after Brind'Amour intercepted a pass from Shawn Chambers at the Devils' blue line, skated in alone on Brodeur and eluded the goaltender with a right-to-left move.

"It started slipping away after that," McKay said. "A 2-1 game is a lot easier to come back from. When they score short-handed and go ahead, 3-1, now you need two good bounces and it gets a little frustrating."

Especially because Ron Hextall was compounding the Devils' frustrations by stopping 32 of New Jersey's 34 shots, 15 more than Brodeur and his replacement, Chris Terreri, faced combined.

Rolston beat him early, scoring the game's first goal at 14:44 of the first period, and Peluso scored the game's final goal with less than seven minutes to go, but that was it.

All the patience and discipline that the Devils displayed in the first two games in Philadelphia simply disappeared.

"We think we have to put on more of a show when we play at home," the Devils' Scott Niedermayer said. "We don't have to please anyone on the road and as a result we're more conservative, we stick to our game."

As the Devils' bus headed down the turnpike for Sunday's 3 P.M. game, Lemaire undoubtedly would be delighted if he were to conclude that the solution was so simple.

Photo: Martin Brodeur, the Devils' hero so far in the playoffs, gave up four goals yesteday. Devils Coach Jacques Lemaire pulled the goalie in the third period of the loss. (Alan Zale for The New York Times)